Mooncake Festival - Chinese

The Moon Cake Festival is one of the three major festivals of the Chinese calendar, and is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar.

This festival happens to correspond to the

harvest festival that is observed by Western cultures, but it does not relate to the harvest.

This festival is known as the Moon Cake Festival because a special kind of sweet cake prepared in the shape of the moon and filled with sesame seeds, ground lotus seeds and duck eggs is served as a traditional delicacy.

There is one belief that this festival has its origin in the 14th century. At the time, China was in revolt against the Mongols. The Mongol enemy held a certain walled city.

Chu Yuen-chang, a Chinese military leader, and his senior deputy, Liu Po-wen, discussed battle plans and developed a secret strategy to take the city back. Liu dressed up as a Taoist priest and entered the besieged city. He had bags full of moon cake that he distributed to the city's populace. When the time for the year's Chung Chiu festival arrived, people opened their moon cakes and found hidden messages advising them to coordinate their uprising with the troops outside. This enabled Chu Yuen-chang to reclaim the city and become emperor.